Featured

The Wooden House places Holly Lerski’s songwriting at the centre and it’s this focus which is the album’s real strength. To be able to look beyond the surfaces of everyday concerns and find new insights may seem a small thing, but it’s a rare skill which should get a big thumbs-up from anyone with a penchant for a finely-turned phrase, something which Holly Lerski has in abundance.

Looking for a new sound to match his visions of England Wes Finch had a notion Gerry Diver might steer him there and the wonderful, wildly creative Awena proves him right. If a record could be a page turner then this is it.

Laura Victoria is a powerful, original voice well established on the folk circuit and her glorious full-length debut Head Above Water proves her “Fearlessly adventurous” talent. She has a unique sound that certainly benefits from the chemistry she shares with her friend and accompanist Jo Cooper, but has she also has a magical ability to the shift musical shapes to cover the broad range of her emotive songs.

It may have taken almost 25 years and a sharp thinking festival booker to light the fuse, but Eliza Carthy and Tim Erikson have finally brewed up a Bottle of rare vintage. Here they tell Folk Radio all about it.

Seckou Keita’s latest album ’22 Strings’ is his first ever solo album and in this new video interview he provides a valuable insight into the album including the significance of the songs and his kora playing.

Having made her mark with The Duke & The King, Simi Stone taps into her Upstate Catskill roots for a debut album of bright, vivid soulful sounds as fresh as the sun-kissed mountain air. Plus watch the premiere of her new video for ‘Got It All’.

Building on the acclaim for his debut, Rhythm & Reason finds Bhi Bhiman hitting a socially conscious, soul groove and combining the political and the personal with trademark wit and wisdom. Don’t miss his UK and Ireland Tour in June.

Living in Italy, but born in San Fransisco, the globe-trotting Lucia Comnes has returned to her Americana roots for the passionate and sophisticated new album Love, Hope & Tyranny. Lucia is also getting set to make her UK debut in June with a CD Release Concert at London’s Green Note, one you don’t want to miss.

Having released one of the best albums of the year so far, we caught up with Jackie Oates to talk about her musical journey from her early days of singing at Topsham Folk Club to pursuing her solo career. We also talk about the making of The Spyglass & The Herringbone.

Eliza Carthy and Tim Eriksen finally found the means to combine their extraordinary talents and a couple of UK tours created the opportunity to open the Bottle in celebration. This is a great record, as accomplished and surprising as you might expect from two of the folk world’s most complete musical artists.

The Escape as an album already comes highly recommended and as the centre piece of a live gig it proved to be irresistible. UFQ have done it again, ensuring their live shows continue to provide top notch entertainment that really has to be experienced.

We have an exclusive live video premiere from Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr performing ‘Seven Years’ from their forthcoming new album, plus an exclusive giveaway of 10 signed deluxe sets of Murmurs. Don’t miss out.

With new album Emerald, Dar Williams really does live up to her tag as one of America’s best singer songwriters and with tour dates imminent there’s cause for double celebration. Emerald also includes several notable guest appearances to further enhance its credentials. It channels the heartfelt, the honest, the vital and and the poetic into one electrifying whole.

We caught up with Fabian Holland for a quick chat about his exceptional second album ‘A Day Like Tomorrow’ and the way his narrow boat life is starting to influence his work. Whilst life is not all plain sailing there are plenty of upbeat moments as he admits “…there are times when you just forget that you’re living in London, which is probably why I like it so much.”

For their sixth album, A Forest of Arms, the Great Lake Swimmers find their principal songwriter and lead voice, Tony Dekker, at his most potent. The album bristles with some of their strongest tunes and the most dynamic playing that the band have realised so far.

With a talent partly forged in Florida and fuelled by French cinema’s New Wave Robert Chaney’s Cracked Picture Frames marks the arrival of a notable new voice on the London music scene. The album is sharp, intelligent, thoughtful and moving, as Robert sings, “I got some simple words to say,” but he says them so well, you can’t fail to be mightily impressed.

We have a video teaser from Beyond The Marches / Dros y Ffin and an update from Elan Rhys about their performance at Hoddinott Hall in the Millennium Centre, Cardiff. Their final performance is this evening at Cecil Sharp House.

In her notes on the album, Thea writes that listening back to the old songs was like being haunted by the ghosts of her past. Rather than exorcise them, she’s given them new life while continuing to graffiti the wall of the music industry with music that matters, music with a heart and a mind rather than a corporate game plan. Long may she be “the girl that went and …